Twilight: Darling of Volturi (YURI/GL)

Although the guards constantly complained that the blood stored in the vault tasted stale, its quality was still exceptionally high. Any wandering vampire would leap at the chance to possess such precious nourishment, let alone a newborn who had been driven to the very brink of bloodlust.

A torrent of red poured downward, staining the entire bath red. Beneath the flowing spring water, the blood blossomed and scattered in violent swirls until the pool resembled a gruesome basin of fresh gore.

Jane, Alec, and Fabio had all undergone rigorous training. No matter how intoxicating the scent of blood became, none of them so much as blinked. The only person whose reason could be stolen by that irresistible sweetness was Sophie, curled up at the bottom of the bath, enduring her suffering with every shred of restraint she had left.

The young vampire finally moved.

She could no longer pretend to be an ancient fossil buried beneath the water.

The fragrance of blood surrounded her in the most literal sense, wrapping around every inch of her body until escape became impossible.

Fresh spring water continued to pour into the bath, slowly washing the blood away. Beneath the surface, the vampire stretched out her limbs, thrashing wildly like a drowning human desperately reaching for salvation, trying to seize the red liquid drifting around her.

But blood dissolved into water could not be grasped. It slipped through her fingers, flowed across her hair and skin, and vanished before she could hold on to it.

Now and then, traces of diluted blood found their way into her open mouth and slid down her throat. Yet instead of soothing the unbearable thirst burning within her, it only intensified the agony, leaving her craving even more.

The torment became unbearable. Sophie clutched at her throat as spiderweb-like cracks spread across the skin of her neck before her venom immediately repaired them, only for the fractures to appear again moments later.

Outside the bath, the overflowing water crept across the floor until it submerged the shoes of the three vampires standing nearby. Splashes of red stained their black clothing, making the darkness of their attire seem deeper and more oppressive.

Jane calmly retrieved a second blood bag. Unlike the first, she no longer crushed it with brute force. Instead, with her usual elegant composure, she delicately tore open a small slit and slowly poured its contents into the bath.

Red once again flooded the entire pool.

It was like scattering bait into a fishpond. A starving fish, deprived of food for days, would inevitably lose its mind and leap toward the surface, desperate to devour whoever held the food.

Reason abandoned Sophie completely.

She erupted from the water with terrifying speed, every movement filled with savage aggression. Her fangs, sharper than those of a shark, lunged straight toward Jane. At the critical moment, Fabio struck from the side. His wrist and palm moved as one, clamping tightly around Sophie before she could reach her target. Only with his full strength did he barely manage to intercept the newborn’s vicious attack.

Alec reacted instantly, releasing his black mist. The supernatural fog numbed Sophie’ senses of smell and sight at once. Suddenly deprived of both, the bewildered newborn lost her target entirely, turning her head back and forth in confusion as she searched aimlessly through the darkness.

Red liquid streamed from Sophie’ curled hair.

Her soaked eyelashes drooped low, droplets of blood-colored fluid sliding down them like red tears before tracing the bridge of her nose and falling from her chin.

Blood covered every inch of her body. Her silver-white silk slip dress clung tightly to her slender figure, outlining a beauty that was at once haunting, seductive, and strangely mesmerizing. She looked less like a starving monster than an enchanting apparition born from a sea of blood.

If vampires possessed the ability to cry, then surely the tears they shed would be red... tears steeped in slaughter.

Jane’s voice remained calm and emotionless.

”Now,” she ordered coldly, ”begin, Fabio.”

Hidden from Alec’s view, Fabio reached into Sophie’ memories and severed countless invisible threads.

They shimmered in every imaginable color. Red, white, gray, pink...

Quietly clicking his tongue in amazement, Fabio couldn’t help thinking that in the mere month he had been away, someone had managed to experience enough emotional upheaval to rival an entire lifetime. Naturally, he dared not ask questions. His immediate superior was standing right beside him supervising every movement. The smartest course of action was to finish his work as quickly as possible and leave before curiosity got him into trouble.

After a short while, the girl, stripped of two of her senses, gradually stopped struggling. She became as docile as the most harmless herbivorous fish drifting through an ornamental pond, no longer resisting at all.

Holding the opened blood bag, Jane gently guided it to Sophie’ lips. Taste was the only sense left intact, and instinct immediately took over. Sophie latched onto it without hesitation, drinking greedily with unconscious desperation.

”Is it finished?” Jane asked without looking away. After a brief pause, she continued, ”Can you guarantee she’ll never remember any of this again?”

”Not quite yet,” Fabio answered immediately. ”For now, I’ve sealed away every memory from the month since she became a vampire, including all memories involving you.”

Sealing memories was only one application of Fabio’s Gift. Against humans, the effect was almost permanent. Vampires, however, still possessed the possibility of recovering lost memories over time.

That limitation had always placed a severe ceiling on Fabio’s ability, and he had spent years searching for a way to overcome it.

Almost proudly, he presented the results of his recent training. ”For the next month, as long as I continue reinforcing the seal through repeated contact, the memory lock will remain effective for a very... very long time.”

Alec frowned, clearly dissatisfied with such a vague answer.

”’A very long time’ isn’t good enough,” he said firmly. ”Give us a definite number.”

Fabio pondered the question for a moment before answering with confidence. ”Ten years. As long as I’m alive to maintain it, she won’t recover those memories for at least ten years.”

Jane nodded expressionlessly.

”Well done. Your Gift has finally shown real improvement after all these years. I’ll report your progress to the Master. For the next month, I want you to remain in Volterra. Do you have any objections?”

”None whatsoever!” Fabio replied, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.

He had intended to express a few more words of gratitude, but Alec was already growing impatient.

”You’re finished here,” Alec said bluntly. ”Leave. The rest is my business now.”

”Of course. Of course!” Fabio bowed repeatedly, almost tripping over himself in his haste. ”Then I’ll take my leave.”

Without wasting another second, Fabio hurried out of the room.

Thoughtfully, he pulled the heavy door shut behind him, leaving the twins alone in blessed silence.

As for the little vampire kneeling beside the bath, obliviously hugging the blood bag while she drank from it with mindless instinct, her sight, her sense of smell... and even her hearing had all been severed.